Published: Wednesday, August 6, 2014 at 3:15 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, August 7, 2014 at 12:05 a.m.

Carolina's wide receivers will be among the most scrutinized players when the team's four-game preseason schedule kicks off Friday against the Bills with the final roster spots at the position arguably the most hotly-contested.

With only veteran pickups Jerricho Cotchery, Jason Avant and first-round draftee Kelvin Benjamin appearing to be absolute locks at this juncture to make the 53-man roster, the battle among nine others for what is likely to be three left standing is going to be very interesting.

The unofficial team depth chart published Tuesday, which truly means little at this point, but still provides a jumping-off point, has Wofford product Brenton Bersin listed fourth followed by Tiquan Underwood and rookie Philly Brown. The Buffalo game will be an important step in helping the muddled picture start to become clear.

"There is a pecking order and you do see some separation, but you just never really know until you get the guys out on the field in live action," Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said. "That's what we're looking for, the live action, once we get to that point in training camp you can really identify it, but right now to say these are our top-six guys and yet the action hasn't been game-speed yet, that would be unfair. So we have an idea, but it's not in granite, nothing in stone, nothing is for sure."

As for what exactly Rivera and his staff will be seeking from the wide-outs Friday night, he said, "The biggest thing is catching the ball in traffic and being able to get off at the press. This will be game speed, live action, and we're going against a different group of guys that you don't know as well as your own guys so it will be interesting to see how they handle this opportunity."

With Benjamin having missed much of last week with a bruised knee and the team trying to keep an average at best workload for the older legs of Cotchery and Avant, there have been plenty of chances for the unknowns to gain some positive attention. In addition to the aforementioned players, the likes of Kealoha Pilares, Marcus Lucas and Tavarres King have shown glimpses of having the goods to latch onto those final receiving roles, although nobody's been fully consistent. Pilares, Brown and Underwood all have experience as return-men, a skill desperately needed by the Panthers and something that could ultimately help earn them a spot.

Wednesday's top performer was Brown, a rookie from Ohio State, who followed up catching a perfect deep ball after getting big separation by snagging the day's toughest pass with a defender draped all over him. Rivera took note of the positive plays, but also mentioned some not-so-good stuff.

"Philly's done some nice things. He's had a couple of hot and cold days where some days he really flashes and his speed and ability really shows, and then other days he hasn't. He's a young guy who is learning, he's growing, and he's getting better and better every time he gets on the football field. Some days he does show out more and (Wednesday) was one of those days."

Lucas, an unheralded free-agent rookie from Missouri with a great frame at 6-foot-4, 220-pounds, has received some recent positive reviews from Rivera in having become sort of a sudden dark-horse candidate in the race.

"Just because he's made some plays when he's gotten opportunities," Rivera said. "He was OK, and then all of a sudden we put the pads on and he started to show up, and some guys have done that. You put the pads on and some guys disappear and some guys show up and he's one of those guys who have shown up."

The chances for a player like Lucas to latch on should he perform well in preseason games are greatly increased by the total lack of experience among Carolina's receivers other than Cotchery, Avant and Underwood. Pilares, a 2011 fifth-round pick out of Hawaii where he had a solid career, served almost primarily as a return man before missing all of last season with a torn ACL. He shares the longest current tenure in the organization among receivers with Bersin, who is competing in his third training camp with the Panthers after spending last season on the practice squad.

"(Bersin) has just gotten to be more and more fundamentally sound, more and more sure in our offense," Rivera said. "He's done a great job and earned some opportunities. He's got that kind of ability and we want to see it for real now (in preseason games). I'm excited for him and he's one of the players you really want to see do well and hopefully that's what happens."

<p>Carolina's wide receivers will be among the most scrutinized players when the team's four-game preseason schedule kicks off Friday against the Bills with the final roster spots at the position arguably the most hotly-contested.</p><p>With only veteran pickups Jerricho Cotchery, Jason Avant and first-round draftee Kelvin Benjamin appearing to be absolute locks at this juncture to make the 53-man roster, the battle among nine others for what is likely to be three left standing is going to be very interesting.</p><p>The unofficial team depth chart published Tuesday, which truly means little at this point, but still provides a jumping-off point, has Wofford product Brenton Bersin listed fourth followed by Tiquan Underwood and rookie Philly Brown. The Buffalo game will be an important step in helping the muddled picture start to become clear.</p><p>"There is a pecking order and you do see some separation, but you just never really know until you get the guys out on the field in live action," Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said. "That's what we're looking for, the live action, once we get to that point in training camp you can really identify it, but right now to say these are our top-six guys and yet the action hasn't been game-speed yet, that would be unfair. So we have an idea, but it's not in granite, nothing in stone, nothing is for sure."</p><p>As for what exactly Rivera and his staff will be seeking from the wide-outs Friday night, he said, "The biggest thing is catching the ball in traffic and being able to get off at the press. This will be game speed, live action, and we're going against a different group of guys that you don't know as well as your own guys so it will be interesting to see how they handle this opportunity."</p><p>With Benjamin having missed much of last week with a bruised knee and the team trying to keep an average at best workload for the older legs of Cotchery and Avant, there have been plenty of chances for the unknowns to gain some positive attention. In addition to the aforementioned players, the likes of Kealoha Pilares, Marcus Lucas and Tavarres King have shown glimpses of having the goods to latch onto those final receiving roles, although nobody's been fully consistent. Pilares, Brown and Underwood all have experience as return-men, a skill desperately needed by the Panthers and something that could ultimately help earn them a spot.</p><p>Wednesday's top performer was Brown, a rookie from Ohio State, who followed up catching a perfect deep ball after getting big separation by snagging the day's toughest pass with a defender draped all over him. Rivera took note of the positive plays, but also mentioned some not-so-good stuff.</p><p>"Philly's done some nice things. He's had a couple of hot and cold days where some days he really flashes and his speed and ability really shows, and then other days he hasn't. He's a young guy who is learning, he's growing, and he's getting better and better every time he gets on the football field. Some days he does show out more and (Wednesday) was one of those days."</p><p>Lucas, an unheralded free-agent rookie from Missouri with a great frame at 6-foot-4, 220-pounds, has received some recent positive reviews from Rivera in having become sort of a sudden dark-horse candidate in the race.</p><p>"Just because he's made some plays when he's gotten opportunities," Rivera said. "He was OK, and then all of a sudden we put the pads on and he started to show up, and some guys have done that. You put the pads on and some guys disappear and some guys show up and he's one of those guys who have shown up."</p><p>The chances for a player like Lucas to latch on should he perform well in preseason games are greatly increased by the total lack of experience among Carolina's receivers other than Cotchery, Avant and Underwood. Pilares, a 2011 fifth-round pick out of Hawaii where he had a solid career, served almost primarily as a return man before missing all of last season with a torn ACL. He shares the longest current tenure in the organization among receivers with Bersin, who is competing in his third training camp with the Panthers after spending last season on the practice squad.</p><p>"(Bersin) has just gotten to be more and more fundamentally sound, more and more sure in our offense," Rivera said. "He's done a great job and earned some opportunities. He's got that kind of ability and we want to see it for real now (in preseason games). I'm excited for him and he's one of the players you really want to see do well and hopefully that's what happens."</p>